Aela (32 page)

Aela found a suitable stick, pushed it into the ground in a cleared space, with the sun beating directly down on it. There she saw a pencil thin dark shadow on the soil beneath her gaze. Aela realised she needed to walk in the opposite direction from the shadow she could see merging from the base of the stick. But first she must line up three trees in a straight line that was in the correct direction she was to go and then walk towards that third tree.

Once she had reached the third tree she then had to line up three more trees and walk again to the last tree and so on. Very soon she was making faster and faster progress and found herself running through the trees. To her surprise she reached the main road in rapid time, as now she had her bearings and she also knew she had a choice. She could go as originally planned to her own home territory or walk towards Brude's army where she might find Rom still a prisoner. Without thinking too much of the consequences she began to trudge purposely along the road towards Brude's territory and her true love.

Rom soon lost patience with having to follow Ette blindly through the forest not knowing which direction he was going. He thought, What does this old hag know of the forest that he could not fix himself. He caught up to Ette and yelled in her ear, ‘Where are we going old woman?' Rom demanded.

‘You will soon see, enough my prince. Have patience with me,' Ette replied quickly.

At the same time she walked even faster and Rom was forced to run in order to keep up with her. Ette kept up this furious pace for sometime and Rom's energy levels were beginning to dissipate rapidly much to his own personal frustration. Then she suddenly stopped very still, looking left and then right.

‘Ah, we have arrived at last' she stated clicking her tongue at the front of her mouth and at the same time, she swung her whole body around suddenly and faced Rom. ‘I will leave you, you are safe now. Just yonder, through those trees is the main road to the Temple of the Sun. Go there and rescue Aela from Juno. The rest is up to you and destiny.'

With these words she smiled at Rom, turned her back on him and disappeared into the thick bushes in front of her.

‘Damn, damn you woman. Thanks for nothing for leaving me here, high and dry, not knowing what to do next,' growled Rom.

Grinding his teeth in rage, clenching and unclenching his fists in sheer frustration, Rom looked around him and could see a clearing in front of him. He walked cautiously towards the opening and leaned forward to take a closer look at the scene around him. Much to Rom's relief he could see a road a few paces away. He then rapidly moved through the trees and soon found himself standing in a cleared area, with the bright sun streaming down on his head. He could feel the warmth of the rays penetrating through his body, bringing new energy to his torso and limbs.

‘Thank goodness I am still alive at least,' he exclaimed to himself.

Rom closed his eyes, and raised his face towards the sun at the same time. ‘I must go, to rescue Aela from Juno and kill him at the same time. He is an evil man. He must be eradicated from this life, forever!'

With these thoughts foremost in his mind, Rom began to run along the road, towards Brude's camp site which he knew was located somewhere in the forest near the Temple of the Sun. He murmured, ‘That cursed place, where all their problems started. That was when he foolishly decided to take up the quest, to possess the Sacred Sword and learn the secret of its magical powers. I cannot go back now, I must move forward for evermore.'

Then Rom suddenly heard the quick, urgent gallop of a horse coming closer and closer to where he was standing. He dropped quickly down on the ground and waited for the horse to come nearer to where he was lying behind some bushes. Then he leapt at the neck of the horse and used all his body weight to drag it towards the ground.

The rider lost his balance and tumbled head first over the neck of the horse and rolled several times on the ground. The horseman hit the base of a tree and lay very still on the ground not moving. From a short distance away Rom could see from the position of the rider he had broken his neck and was now dead.

He quickly grabbed the reins of the horse and leapt onto its back, he then dug both his heels into the flanks of the animal, who immediately responded by galloping forward along the road at rapid speed. It took some time before Rom had proper control of the horse as they both catapulted along the road. Then very slowly, Rom was able to coax the horse to canter and then fall into a trot and finally stopping altogether.

Both rider and horse, were trying to catch their breaths after this ordeal. Eventually the horse's flank stopped heaving and he was no longer snorting through his nostrils. Rom quietly whispered into the horses ear and stroked his neck gently, as he dropped to the ground. The horse gradually calmed down and nuzzled his head into Rom's chest, gently blowing hot air through his nostrils. Rom was happy that he now had transport and felt confident he would find Aela very soon and they both could escape together.

Aela had been walking for sometime and was beginning to feel weary, so she decided to sit on the side of the road to rest. She was feeling very parched as well as hungry and was thinking of walking back into the forest to find a stream, so that she could ease her thirst by drinking some water. She thought that perhaps on the way, she might find some edible berries to eat as well, in order to satisfy her hunger.

Whilst she was pondering about what to do next, she could hear the sound of hooves thundering on the road, coming nearer and nearer to where she was sitting. She dived for cover behind some bushes and peered out to see in which direction the horse was galloping and who was the rider. Aela noted the man and horse were coming from the direction of the Temple of the Sun and travelling at a great speed. She carefully peered through the bush, watching closely as the rider and horse drew nearer to where she was hiding.

As they passed, Aela could see the rider was bending low over the neck of the horse and staring straight ahead. She could hear the sharp breath of the horse and see white spit flowing from its mouth. All the time, there was the regular but urgent thunder of the hooves of the steed hitting the ground at rythmic intervals. Also there was the soft thud of leather being stretched backwards and forwards in unison under its belly and the quick breath hurtling out in short sharp bursts from the horse's gaping mouth. There was a blurry flash of movement and then nothing as the rider and horse disappeared around a sharp corner. A heavy silence once more dominated the area.

Aela started cursing herself for not having tried to stop the rider, by leaping onto the back of the animal, throwing the rider off the horse. Then go riding forth to rescue Rom from the clutches of Juno and his men. But she realised she did not have the physical strength of a man to perform these feats. Aela started to cry with frustration and rage at her own physical weakness.

‘If I had the strength of a man, I would be invincible. But I haven't, so there. But I am more cunning and much faster in my thoughts than men. I can outwit them at any time,' she said to herself. Her sobbing became less and less and she wiped the tears from her eyes with her hands. ‘I must find water before I die of thirst,' Aela angrily muttered.

Then suddenly she heard the thud of hooves again, coming from the opposite direction of the Temple of the Sun. She hid again behind the bushes, watching and waiting for the reappearance of the rider and horse. Her heart began to beat with pure joy as she recognised Rom on the back of the horse.

Aela ran out into the middle of the road waving her hands above her head and yelling. ‘Rom! Rom! It is I. Aela! Aela!'

Rom instantly recognised Aela and shouted back. ‘Aela, Aela! It is you!'

Rom leapt off the horse and started running towards Aela with his arms outstretched in front of him. They met, falling into each others arms, oblivious of everything around them. They remained locked together for what seemed an eternity. Then tenderly Rom placed his lips on Aela's soft rosebud mouth, kissing her with fiery, sensual passion. Their bodies locked together into one fused moment of unadulterated joy and abandonment. Their two souls were now intertwined for ever with each other resulting with fusing of their two bodies as one.

Then Aela threw back her head, opened her mouth, and started to laugh with sheer joy of the moment. Rom joined in and they both began to dance, twirling around, still locked in each other's arms until they were both out of breath. They then fell down together on the ground.

‘This is the happiest moment of my life,' exclaimed Aela. ‘We are together again! Nothing else matters.'

Rom responded by urging, ‘We must escape now, whilst we can! Come! Get up Aela.'

Rom then went to assist Aela to stand up, by taking both her hands and gently propelled her into an upright position.

‘You are right Rom, as usual I must be sensible for once,' Aela replied demurely, with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

Rom looked around for his horse and was extremely relieved to see the animal quietly eating grass, a short distance away. With quick strides Rom gathered the reins and led his gallant steed back to where Aela was standing.

‘Come Aela,! I will help you to climb on his back. We will ride away to reclaim the Sacred Sword!' shouted Rom.

Without another word. Aela gracefully jumped onto the horse's back, whilst Rom mounted in the saddle, almost at the same time, he dug his heels into both sides of the horse.

He announced ‘I name thee Remus. So fly my steed, as fast as the north wind blows, to our freedom, destiny and the possession of the Sacred Sword.'

Without further encouragement, Remus once more galloped off at breakneck speed along the road towards the Temple of the Moon.